


Reunion

by fell_on_black_days



Series: Doctor Kaya Shepard [3]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, No Shepard without Vakarian, Shepard Twins (Mass Effect)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 10:54:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15727944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fell_on_black_days/pseuds/fell_on_black_days
Summary: Jordan Shepard comes back from the dead to stop the reapers again. His twin sister Kaya seems to be lost in the wind along with half his crew and most of his patience as he searches for her while trying to save the world all over again.





	1. Chapter 1

Jordan’s head was still spinning as the Normandy docked on Omega. He’d been dead for two years, his sister had gone missing, and the reapers were back through a proxy species called the collectors.  _ I die and everything goes to shit  _ he thought as he stepped down the boarding platform with Lawson and Taylor in tow. Most of that he could deal with. It was Kaya that had him worried. He had no idea what the hell had happened to her and he’d be damned if he left her to fend for herself again. He bulldozed his way through the docks, picking up Zaeed Massani with an unnecessary amount of drama before sending Jacob back to guard the ship and meeting with Aria T’Loak.

His usually peaceful demeanor was shot through by a simmering, brotherly rage as he walked towards Afterlife, a rage that was momentarily unleashed on a shit talking batarian in the lobby. His entire body radiated a “fuck off” vibe as he approached the Asari’s throne room prompting her bodyguards to level their guns at the space between his eyes. He barely caught the look of surprise on the mob boss’ face before she grinned ear to ear. “Hello Shepard,” she sneered. “Why don’t you sit so we can chat a while?”

* * *

 

Kaya was starting to come down off of another stimpak when she heard the receptionist page both her and Mordin. She barely made it out of her chair before her coworker leveled her with a stare and said, “Stay here. Possible combatant. Need to make sure the patient continues to breathe for the next few minutes while the anesthetic sets in.” She nodded at him wordlessly and started to keep an eye out when she heard something that made her swear she was hallucinating.

She called over an assistant and rushed out to find someone she thought gone forever. As she looked him up and down she felt her exhaustion mix with the shock and fell to her knees.

* * *

“Kai?” he asked bewildered. “Kai is that you?” Jordan rushed forward to his sister as she collapsed. Solus got there first to catch her and called an orderly.

“Doctor Johnson has reached peak exhaustion and needs rest immediately. Take her to her quarters and make sure she gets it. Avoid using any stimulants for twenty-four hours. Needs to detox from stimpaks. Working too hard.”

The Commander’s head whipped back and forth between the Salarian and his sister as she was carried away. “What do you mean about stimpaks? Is she working here?” he asked. 

“Yes. The doctor was the first to really set up this clinic. Came a few months after and joined as partner. We’ve been together through the quarantine to handle patient needs.”

Jordan logged it all away as the salarian continued on, “From appearance alone and rarity of genetic occurence in hair and eyes can assume you are her sibling. Figured she was here on false name. Never pried further. Are you here for her? No. Too surprised. Military. Not alliance. So fringe group. Maybe-”

“We’re with Cerberus,” Jordan interjected as he snapped back to the mission at hand. “The collectors are hitting colonies and may be working for the reapers. We need your help. Finding Kaya here was a total surprise.”

“I see. Could go with you but need something in return. Must introduce cure to the ventilation systems of the district. Can’t make it there alone. Assistant tried to go out. Couldn’t stop him. Might still be alive. Do this and we’ll talk.” With that, Mordin turned to care for his patients and Jordan set off putting his questions aside for when he got back.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's here. A new chapter for the umpteenth time today. Damn I'm tired.

Kaya woke up in a place she didn’t recognize. She could see a metal ceiling above her and heard the familiar beeps of medical equipment as she stirred on what she assumed was an examination table. She tried to sit heard the rustling of fabric as an older, yet familiar human woman came to support her. 

“Karen?” she asked, “What are you doing here? Where are we?”

Her old colleague smiled as she began to speak, “We’re on a ship named after the original Normandy. You’ve just been through quite a shock dear and are coming down from some serious stimulants. I need you to lay back and relax.”

The doctor’s words started to bring the pieces back to her as Kaya’s eyes snapped wide open. “Jordan! He’s alive!”

Chakwas took a solid twenty minutes explaining the situation further and urged Kaya to get some more rest. “The Commander will be back soon. He’s on a mission at the moment but should be back within the next twenty-four hours.” With that she was given a mild sedative and left to her sleep.

* * *

 

Jordan swore as a shot clipped his helmet.  _ Garrus, I swear I’m gonna kick your ass later if that was a pot shot and not you being convincing. _ He opened fire on the mercs that made it to the apartment. And climbed the stairs to meet with his old friend. 

“It’s damn good to see you Shepard,” the turian said as he fired another round across the bridge. “Wanna tell me how you cheated death after we get out of this shit?”

Normally Jordan would joke back at times like this but his mind flashed to the conversation he’d had with Mordin after getting Kaya back to the Normandy.

_ “We have one more stop to make before we leave the station. A vigilante named Archangel came up on our radar and intel says he’d be a good match for team. He’s currently pinned down by a coalition of mercs outside his base so we’re going in for rescue.” He looked up from his data pad as the salarian went silent for the first time since they met. “What is it?” _

_ Mordin recovered from his shock quickly as he fired off, “Real identity of Archangel is one Garrus Vakarian. Came to Omega with the doctor. They were, or became, romantically involved. It’s imperative we get there in time.” _

Jordan’s mind came back to the present as he said, “Sure. Soon as you tell me how you ended up sleeping with my sister and why the hell you left her in the quarantine zone while you went off on this fucking crusade.”

Jordan’s translator picked up something from the turian that sounding like “shit” before he saw the next wave of mercs coming. He ordered Mordin to stay on the balcony while he and Zaeed took the lower level. They fought their way through the basement and secured the first floor of the apartment before hearing the telltale signs of a chopper flying towards them. Shepard got back to the balcony and started firing just in time to see a shell make direct impact with the turian’s skull. 

Any anger he had held towards the man dissipated as he barked out orders for an evac and immediate medbay prep. As an afterthought he told Joker to have Kaya moved to his quarters. “She doesn’t need to see this shit in her current condition,” he shouted across the comms. “God knows she may never forgive me if he dies.”


	3. Chapter 3

Kaya stormed across the mess hall as she approached the medbay while being followed by her brother scrambling down the service ladder to keep up with her. He reached her just before she made it to the door and grabbed her shoulder forcing her to stop and face him. She had never felt so relieved and so pissed at the same time before in her life. Not even when Jordan had nearly gotten his eye shot out when he was running with the reds. 

“What?” she snarled at him.

“He’s still in surgery and you’re still coming off of more than three months worth of stims. You should be resting,” he said, trying to calm her down. Unfortunately his words had the opposite effect.

“I don’t give a fuck about resting right now. I haven’t seen that man in three goddamn months and now that I can he’s fighting for his life on a goddamn table. I’m going in to assist.” She clenched her fists and stared him down with a look he’d never seen directed at him before. If it hadn’t been for Miranda walking out of the medbay at that very moment Jordan would have been forced to have her restrained.

“That won’t be necessary doctor. The cybernetics are set and Detective Vakarian should be under anesthesia for several more hours.” Kaya looked the woman up and down before storming past her into the medbay, ignoring the stares from her brother’s crew as she did.

The sight that met her was not one she would forget anytime soon. Garrus lay there in his under armour with a large bandage across the right side of his face and an IV in his arm. Karen took one look and made up the neighboring bed. “I assume you won’t be getting any rest unless he’s in your sight. I’m exhausted from the operation so I’ll leave you and EDI to watch over him.”

Kaya nodded in wordless thanks to the woman and climbed into the freshly made bed as Karen closed the blinds and dimmed the lights. She was just close enough to her lover to reach out and hold his hand as she fell asleep.

* * *

Jordan sighed as he took the elevator back up to the bridge and plopped down into the copilot seat next to Joker. “That bad commander?” Jeff asked.

“Yeah. She’s hard to convince when she’s set on something trivial let alone like this.”

“I got ya boss. She’s a lot like you that way. Makes sense that she and Garrus went to Omega together. Especially after that call from the admiral.”

Jordan snorted, “Are you implying that Garrus and my sister are a good match Moreau?”

“Was I being too gentle? Sorry Shep. I meant to say there’s more to their relationship than mutual boning. Did you want to hear it put that way?”

“Ugh! For the love of god Joker I don’t want to talk about my baby sister’s sex life.”

“I’m just sayin’, he and Anderson were the only ones around after you died. Add the bounties and him taking care of her and it was bound to happen sooner or later. If you really listened to the admiral you would’ve caught that they were already swimming around each other before the jump. Probably just sped things up a little.”

The commander snorted again as he listened to his pilot. “You’re probably right it’s just… this is really fucking confusing and I have no damn idea what the last two years have done to any of you. It was just a hazy but of semi-consciousness for me and I feel like I’ve been sent through a wormhole from one of those old space vids.”

“I can relate buddy. I can relate.”

* * *

 

Garrus woke up to white light and a throbbing pain on the side of his face. As his eyes adjusted he noticed Kaya not to far from him and tried to roll to her side of the bed. He realized his mistake when he fell to the floor with a loud crash and a groan. He looked around and realized that he was in some ship’s medbay and that Kaya was still asleep even though he’d caused quite the racket. 

Doctor Chakwas was the first awake person he saw as she rushed over to help him up and run a few scans. She filled him in on everything that happened after he’d been shot. He was shocked to find out that Kaya was going through stim withdrawal after her three months at the clinic and had been given a sedative after passing out in the neighboring gourney. “Will she be okay?” he asked, wincing as he stretched the muscles of his face.

“After a few days of rest and a couple of healthy meals she’ll be just fine. She was more worried about you. Nearly pummeled the commander to get down here after waking up the second time. Tried to break into your surgery at the tail end. If anything she might experience cravings for the next few weeks, but I don’t think she has any permanent damage or possible addiction.”

Garrus breathed a sigh of relief as he looked back at her sleeping form. “Thank the spirits. When she messaged me to say she was quarantining herself I was terrified she’d be hurt or worse.”

“From Commander Shepard’s report she nearly was. Three months on a rotation of military grade stems can cause major illness and cardiac arrest. She’s lucky she didn’t overdose.” 

Garrus rubbed his eyes as he leaned against his now empty bed. “Thanks Doc. If you don’t mind I’d like to stay here and keep an eye on her. Make sure she’s okay when she wakes up.”

Karen nodded and drew a privacy screen across the room as she got back to work. Garrus grasped Kaya’s hand and whispered, “I’m never letting you leave my sight again,” as he kissed her on the head. Doctor Chakwas found him resting there when she left her post for the night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just realized I posted an older version of this so I've made a few edits. Sorry to anybody who may or may not end up confused.

It had been four days since Garrus woke up and three since Kaya came back to consciousness. In those four days Garrus had agreed to help them run down the collectors and Kaya had made damn sure she stayed on the ship for the mission. “The two people that I care about most are in this tin can and I’m sure as hell not leaving either of you on a suicide mission. I’ve lost you once and I nearly lost Garrus. I’m not losing either of you again,” she had said as she squared off with her brother in the conference room.

He’d caved and assigned her to the medbay. He even let her choose her own bunk. Whiiiiiiiiich happened to be one attached directly to Garrus’ in the main battery. That had raised a few eyebrows with the Cerberus crewmembers, Miranda included, but if there was anything the Shepard twins were not, it was easy to disrespect. One would always find out when someone was bad mouthing the other and would make sure whoever did it was reminded of their station aboard the Normandy. By the time they brought Okeer’s experiment aboard the crew knew to give the twins a respectful distance when talking about one or the other.

The Shepards had two very different reactions when grunt woke up. Jordan respected his brute strength while Kaya began to affectionately call him a “psycho murder baby” much to the krogan’s unexpected delight. Add that to her patching up the big guy a few times after a fight and she had his undying loyalty. Jordan gained the same by throwing him into said fights, one of which involved an entire squad of blood pack berserkers.

Nothing really seemed to come up on Jordan’s end until they arrived at Purgatory. He’d taken Grunt and Miranda out with him leaving Kaya and Garrus on board. Neither of them were needed much during the mission as EDI had taken up most support roles.

Garrus was recalibrating the new guns after their installation when Kaya walked in and looped her arms around his chest, resting her head on his back. “Hey,” she said as she pressed in a little closer, “How’s it going in here?”

Garrus stopped what he was doing and turned to rest his forehead on hers as he replied. “Calibrating. It can wait a bit. What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing, just… happy you’re here.” He sensed the slight change in her scent as her anxiety rose again as an aftereffect of the stims. The drugs had done a number on both of their systems but her prolonged exposure had lingering effects that he didn’t need to work through on his end.

“Why don’t you get some sleep? I’ll keep you company,” he said as he looked her over. She looked more tired than usual and a tad pale as he checked her over.

“Will you now?” she said playfully. “What kind of company?”

“Whatever you feel like. Say the word.” He honestly didn’t mind if she wasn’t actually up for anything but if she was he was perfectly willing to help her relax in any way she wanted.

She reached up to kiss him but he broke it off early to address the AI in the room. “Hey EDI. Do me a favor and try not to record, transmit, or interrupt anything. If the commander asks I’m making sure the doctor gets her rest and that’s why I’ve locked the door.”

“Of course, Officer Vakarian. Will you need anything else?”

“No. Not until I activate comms again.”

EDI blinked out as she signaled she understood, locking the doors in her absence. Garrus powered down his terminal and took Kaya by the hand as she led him back to their makeshift bed. He laid her down and made love to her until she fell asleep in his arms. He held her close as she rested and wondered which of the spirits favored him enough to bring her into his life.

**Author's Note:**

> Holy shit I've written almost half a dozen chapters today. I'm not sure if I'm gonna keep going or if I'm gonna go to sleep. The creative juices are flowing and I'm caffeinated as all hell.


End file.
